Punishment disparity narrowed between crack and powder cocaine

WASHINGTON -- The federal punishments for crimes involving crack and powder cocaine will be more closely aligned under a law that passed Congress on Wednesday and goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Advocates declared it a huge improvement to what they say is a racially discriminatory and prison-clogging policy that treated crack offenses 100 times more harshly than powder offenses.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and others have worked for nine years to reduce the disparity but were thwarted by former President George W. Bush's administration. In March, Sessions reached a deal with Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., that raises the amount of crack that triggers the mandatory minimum five-year sentence from 5 grams to 28 grams and leaves alone the amount of powder that triggers the same sentence, 500 grams.

The new law, which passed the U.S. House on Wednesday, reduces the disparity from 100:1 to 18:1. It also eliminates the minimum mandatory sentence for simple possession.

The law goes into effect as soon as Obama signs it and is not retroactive, so it will not affect the sentences of people already in prison.

White House Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske applauded passage of the bill. He said that, as director, "I'm charged with ensuring the United States is doing all it can to reduce drug use and its consequences. Our efforts to do so should be grounded in science and evidence, and there is no scientific basis for the crack/powder sentencing disparity."

Although the law passed Wednesday doesn't eliminate the disparity entirely, the compromise reached by Durbin and Sessions was lauded as a bipartisan breakthrough on an issue that has eroded confidence in the justice system because it had a disproportionate impact on blacks.

The 100:1 disparity was approved in 1986 during a crack epidemic in many American cities. A 2007 Sentencing Commission report showed that 82 percent of all crack cocaine offenders are black, while blacks make up 27 percent of powder cocaine offenders.

Sessions' involvement in changing that law was notable because he is a conservative former federal prosecutor. He argued the disparity was unfair but also was careful to make sure law enforcement supported the changes.

Sessions said the changes will help law enforcement "better and more strategically target federal resources at those who distribute wholesale quantities of narcotics."

Some Republicans opposed the bill, saying it was akin to being soft on crime.

"Reducing the penalties for crack .¤.¤. could expose our neighborhoods to the same violence and addiction that caused Congress to act in the first place," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas.

"Members of both parties deserve enormous credit for moving beyond the politics of fear and simply doing the right thing," said Julie Stewart, founder and president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a national nonprofit.

An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the law will reduce the federal prison population by 1,550 from 2011 to 2015, and save about $42 million.